Hi ladies! I am an absolute mess this week and know that asking for support here will help to raise my spirits a bit. I am 23 weeks pregnant and the past few days have been pretty rough over here. I apologize in advance for the long post, but I feel like I just need to get this all out.

As a bit of background, I am expecting my first baby (it's a girl!) in early January after having a previous pregnancy loss and infertility. We had IVF earlier this year and thankfully it was successful. I am normally a bit anxious, but being pregnant has been really scary and anxiety-inducing for me. I think I am coping okay (my doctor is keeping a close eye on me and I am seeing a therapist), but I would be lying if I didn't admit how challenging it has been to stay calm and to enjoy being pregnant.

Over the weekend, my husband and I had a minor car accident. I think I was in shock more than anything else, but definitely felt like I got a good jolt in the accident (my tummy felt sore from the seat beat and my heat snapped forward and back pretty hard and hit the seat). I called my doctor's emergency line and they recommended going to the nearest hospital for me and baby to be checked out. Unfortunately we weren't near the hospital where I will be delivering so we had to go somewhere else. L&D kept us there for about 5-6 hours to monitor me and baby - thankfully everything seems fine with the baby. I did have a few minor contractions while I was there which was terrifying (I didn't feel them, but they could see them on the monitor). The doctor thinks I was dehydrated (and I definitely did not have very much to eat or drink that day because of all the commotion), so they gave me IV fluids and sent us home. Physically I feel okay now just sore - emotionally I am so overwhelmed and stressed by this whole experience.

We followed up with our normal doctor on Tuesday morning - they had me come in for a quick visit and were very reassuring that baby and I were fine after the accident. After the doctor's appointment, we went to the hospital for our previously scheduled echocardiogram appointment - it was recommended that we have an echocardiogram because we had IVF (this is done as a precaution since there may be an increase in some heart defects after IVF) and it just happened to be scheduled for that day. Everything looked fine at our 20 week ultrasound, so I really wasn't nervous about the test and was just excited to see the baby again.

Overall everything looks okay structurally with baby's heart, but they did detect a small arrhythmia. The doctor said it is called a premature atrial contraction and it is very common and usually resolves on its own. I am supposed to go to my normal doctor's office for weekly monitoring (by Doppler) to see if it resolves on its own. It will hopefully go away on its own, but there are also crazy, scary things that can happen if it gets worse. I seriously felt like I was going to faint when the doctor was explaining all of this.

Then she went on to tell me that my placenta is actually divided into 2 parts or lobes - one part is bigger than the other (this is where the umbilical cord is attached) and the smaller part is connected to the large piece but a series of vessels (I think the technical name for this is succenturiate placenta in case anyone is wondering - I think it can also be called a bilobed placenta if there are two equal-sized parts). The doctor said that the placenta should function normally, but they will monitor the baby's growth in the third trimester to make sure everything is okay. I am also at risk for vasa previa which sounds similar to placenta previa except the blood vessels connecting the two parts of the placenta are near the cervix and not the placenta itself. This can be a very serious issue during delivery so I guess they will monitor the position of the vessels during the third trimester as well (at this point in the conversation, I really felt like I was going to faint so some of this is a bit of a blur). There are other risks during delivery - like an increased risk of hemorrhage or infection since sometimes the second placenta piece doesn't come out as easily. The specialist who spoke to us after the ultrasound saw how scared we were and tried to reassure us that most likely there won't be any serious complications as a result of these issues and that we shouldn't freak out, but I am really struggling not to at this point.

I have an appointment with my normal OB for follow-up next Tuesday. I am trying to stay calm, but it is so so hard. Has anyone had any experience with either of these conditions? The combination of the car accident and then finding out about these two issues (they are both unrelated to the car accident itself) has been so hard to deal with. Please send positive thoughts our way - I really, really appreciate it